A Core Ship From The Start

The masked women in front of me wielded their double-edges, letting out eerie, mocking laughter as they charged toward Duanmu Huai. With zero hesitation, Duanmu Huai summoned dozens of puppets, clashing fiercely with the masked women.

But really, what on earth are these things?

Duanmu Huai didn’t believe that these masked women were humans. The reason was simple; they all had the same hairstyles, same height, and even their body features were identical. Moreover…

“Ha!”

The War Hammer fell with a whoosh, smashing directly onto the head of one of the masked women, literally smashing her head to pieces. But instead of blood, brain matter, and chunks of flesh, pieces of ragged wood emerged from the broken head of the masked woman. It was clear that these masked women were puppets created by someone.

However, these puppets looked distinct from Ogis and the others.

Although Ogis and the others look human on the outside, they certainly have features that set them apart from humans. For instance, the spherical joints of their arms and legs, the areas where their fingers are joined, the seams on their shoulders, and so on. Even though these features could be concealed with clothes, it was apparent upon a closer look that they were not humans.

But these masked women were different, their bodies seemed to be covered with a layer of synthetic skin-like material, perfectly concealing the gaps in their joints. This demonstrated that the puppet master who created them was somewhat superior to others.

However…

“Hehe… this is far from enough, Keep letting me kill them!”

“Kill many more!!”

Why do these puppets all behave like they’ve escaped from a mental institution? They’re crazy!

Duanmu Huai swung his War Hammer once more, shattering a few more masked women, then summoned a group of puppets to guard himself. These masked women weren’t very powerful, but they possessed an elusive stealth capacity that made them invisible to Duanmu Huai until they launched their strikes. Although his Power Armor could defend against the attacks of the masked women, their incessant sneak attacks were quite bothersome.

Speaking of which, I wonder if Lorena is okay?

With that thought, Duanmu Huai turned his head towards where Lorena was, only to witness a sight that completely bewildered him.

Lorena was fighting the masked women now, clenching one fist and holding the Holy Canon in her other hand.

“In the name of God, you evil ones who hide in the darkness to harm humans, you will be purified! O lost lambs, let me grant you redemption!”

As she said this, a masked woman lunged at her cackling wickedly, the dagger in her hand stabbing directly towards Lorena. Evading the attack with a swivel, Lorena then raised the Holy Canon high in her clenched right fist.

“Take this, Sacred Book Thrust!”

With Lorena’s furious roar, her hand tightly holding the Holy Canon came crashing down onto the masked woman. The corner of this substantial Sacred Book directly smashed into the back of the masked woman’s skull, obliterating it instantly.

“Gaaaahhh!!!”

Yet, these masked women clearly weren’t deterred by Lorena’s potent attack. As Lorena punched one of them, another lunatic woman shrieked and pounced at her, her dagger plunging into Lorena’s body. However, with a ‘ding’ sound, the dagger could not penetrate Lorena’s body and instead slid off. In response, Lorena let out a furious roar and swung her fist into the woman, catapulting her backward like a cannonball, and shattering her into smithereens.

“???”

What kind of play is this???

Watching the combat of the priestess in front of him, Duanmu Huai was utterly bewildered. He had not anticipated this seemingly delicate girl to possess such strength.

Hold on, what kind of redemption is that, bashing skulls with the corner of a book? Sacred Book Thrust? Your action had nothing to do with a thrust!

From the looks of your proficiency, this isn’t your first time, is it?!!

Regardless, it was clear that there was no need to worry about Lorena. So, Duanmu Huai turned his head towards Ogis.

At this moment, Ogis was locked in intense combat with the white-haired puppet, with both sides fighting furiously with their gargantuan puppets and retaliating using their strings.

Even though the logic would dictate that when dark is tripled, white weakens seven times over. But the white-haired puppet was getting no foothold against Ogis, and was pretty much being pummeled by her. This was causing the white-haired puppet extreme frustration as she waved her hands frantically, attempting to break Ogis’s line of defense, but to no avail.

“Why! Why! I am the most perfect puppet! I will not lose to you! I am the most perfect piece!!”

“Who are you, exactly?”

Facing the overzealous onslaught from the white-haired puppet, Ogis was handling the situation with considerable ease. With a network of trembling strings transforming into a shield, she deflected the assault while fixing her gaze on the white-haired puppet and asking softly.

“Shut up! Once I destroy you! Once I destroy you! The Master will know I am the superior puppet!! Just die! Die die die!!!”

Contrarily, the white-haired puppet had no intention of communicating with Ogis; she was just recklessly charging, trying to obliterate Ogis. However, her offense was futile against Ogis’s impenetrable defense.

“Why why why! Why is this happening? This is impossible! I am the most perfect! The most perfect puppet! I won’t lose to a prototype like you!”

Stagnation made the white-haired puppet ever more restless, but Ogis remained steadfast.

“Give it up. You can’t beat me.”

“That’s not true! I will defeat you! Then, the master, the master will know I am the…”

However, before the white-haired puppet could finish speaking, Ogis’s fingers suddenly moved. The next moment, the Black Giant that had been confronting the humongous puppet accelerated abruptly, punching the colossal puppet and knocking her straight to the ground. Next, the Black Giant grabbed the white-haired puppet firmly, holding her in its grasp. Meanwhile, Ogis walked up to the white-haired puppet, staring at her.

“Who are you? What’s your name? Who is your master?”

“……..”

However, the white-haired puppet showed no intention of answering Ogis’s questions, she simply glared at her with ferocity, mumbling to herself.

“I’m not broken, I’m not broken, I’m not defective, I’m not defective…won’t forgive…won’t forgive…shred everything apart! Victoria!”

“Ahhhhhh———–!!”

Following the scream of the white-haired puppet, the gigantic female puppet that had been knocked to the ground by the Black Giant suddenly sprung up, screaming and lunging towards Ogis and her Guardian Puppet once again. The blow struck hard, and in the instant when the white-haired puppet broke free from her binds, she leaped up and vanished into thin air with her puppet.

“Next time, next time I won’t lose!!! I will prove to you, who is truly the most perfect puppet!!”

Shortly after the white-haired puppet’s departure, the knights who had heard the commotion arrived at the scene. The masked women disappeared into the darkness as soon as they saw the knights. With this, the battle had, for now, come to a halt.

Ogis was standing stationary in her spot, looking dazed, and Duanmu Huai made his way to her side in this instance.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m not sure, Master.”

Ogis shook her head.

“I felt hatred, fear, anger, and hostility from her —— as well as a sense of familiarity… I’m sorry, I just can’t comprehend why…”

“That’s alright. As long as you continue investigating, you’ll come to understand.”

Duanmu Huai extended his hand and gently patted Ogis’s head.

“We will continue our pursuit, and we will definitely figure out what’s going on.”

“………Yes.”

Hearing Duanmu Huai talk, Ogis slightly nodded her head. Her originally tense expression relaxed somewhat.

She didn’t know why, but she felt that the uncomfortable feeling she had experienced while fighting with the white-haired puppet had now abated significantly.

“I truly appreciate both of your efforts.”

At this moment, Lorena approached Duanmu Huai and Ogis, smiling at them and giving them a courteous bow.

“Thanks to both of you, we were finally able to figure out the criminal’s identity. Now we just need to find a way to apprehend them.”

“No need to thank us, but speaking of which…”

While speaking, Duanmu Huai looked towards Lorena.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, please don’t worry.”

Lorena laughed cheerily in response to Duanmu Huai’s question. She extended her hand and tapped her chest, immediately producing a clanking sound, as if she were metal.

“I exercise regularly, and also wear a ceremonial robe lined with steel armor, so those strange puppets didn’t manage to harm me.”

Well, isn’t that something……..

Upon hearing Lorena’s reply, Duanmu Huai twitched the corner of his mouth. He hadn’t noticed during the fight that such a seemingly delicate girl was actually wearing steel armor.

“So, what kind of training do you actually do?”

Duanmu Huai asked, unable to resist his curiosity. However, Lorena tilted her head and thought for a moment.

“It’s nothing special, just some basic training. Every day, I first perform morning prayers, then clean the church. After that, it’s 500 push-ups, followed by 600 punches. After lunch, there are 1,000 wrestling drills, and after evening prayers, I run approximately 60 laps around the outer city wall…Ah, Sir Knight, if you’re interested in my workout routine, how about joining me next time?”

“Your kind offer is appreciated.”

Upon hearing Lorena’s invitation, Duanmu Huai quietly chose to decline.

He would like to live a few more years.